Hockey dad charged for aiming laser at goalie

Joseph Cordes pointed a laser in a goalie's eyes at his daughter's hockey game. Is this a crime? (Winthrop Police Department)

The score was 1-1 in the third at a high school girls’ playoff hockey game in Massachusetts.

You can only imagine the tension among the parents, coaches and players. Obviously both teams wanted to win—and one dad was so desperate for his daughter’s team to move onto the finals that he allegedly pointed a laser beam into the eyes of the opposing goalie.

Now, Joseph Cordes is being charged with disturbing the peace, according to ABC’s Good Morning America.

Winthrop High School Assistant Superintendent Lisa Howard noticed the beam in the third and ordered 42-year-old Cordes to leave the rink.

The referees and coaches held a powwow to discuss the situation and determined that Cordes didn’t have any effect on the game.

Winthrop went on to win the game 3-1, but their opponents at Medway High School later appealed the win because the felt Cordes has disturbed the game. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association turned down the request.

“Our decision in turning down the appeal was based on the fundamental rule that once the game ends, the judgment of an official cannot be overturned,” Paul Wetzel, media spokesman for the MIAA told ABC.

Anyone with kids in high school sports knows about overzealous parents who argue with coaches, shout from the sidelines and berate their kids for not winning.

Sometimes parents get banned from attending their kids’ games. I saw it happen as a kid playing tennis at clubs in California’s Silicon Valley. Sometimes parents couldn’t control their emotions and their tantrums disturbed the game. They simply couldn’t contain themselves when you called a ball out that they thought was in.

But this Massachusetts father’s actions weren’t based on an emotional outburst. He made a calculated maneuver to hinder the opponent–and that’s what makes this story so disturbing. Parents are supposed to be role models for their kids, and it’s upsetting that this father demonstrated the characteristics of a cheater.